What's Happening

At The Farm

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With our apprentice crew back from their vacation rotation, and the weeder crew gone back to school we knew this week would have a new look. We didn't know this would include sweatshirts, long johns, and wishing wistfully for a warm bowl of soup for lunch. Some things you can predict. Others you can't.

The unusually cold weather did some things, that's for sure: The tomatoes pretty much stopped ripening. They don't like it below 60F at night (let alone 45F!). The cukes and zukes pretty much went away (typical, but a little quicker than usual!). And the greens sweetened up, growing big and fluffy. We will roll with these punches, as none of them are a knock-out; If the weather warms up (as predicted) those tomatoes will start to flow again...

But despite the chilly surprise, this week was mostly just getting down to business-as-usual; When the school bus rolls around the neighborhood for the first time, it's time to start the fall harvest for sure. After a spring of planting and a summer of tending, it's now officially time to reap what we have sown. And reap we did, starting with our crop of yellow storage onions. Up come the lugs from the cellar, out to the field, scrounge through the weeds to fill the lugs with those golden bulbs. Lugs to the truck, truck to the greenhouse. Lugs to the tables. Do it again. A few times. By the end of the week there were around 4000 lbs safely curing in the greenhouse.

By weeks' end we also had time to get to the spuds. This event is always exciting as it is shrouded in mystery until you dig a whole row. This crop holds it's secrets tightly. The digger was set up and the tractor was attached. Plunge goes the digger pan. And.....And....out comes the dirt, the weeds, and....the spuds. They look....pretty good. Enough gawking. Get the buckets. Get the crew. Spuds in buckets. Buckets in truck. Truck to barn. It was cold. But we knew where we were. Here we go. Fall harvest on.